1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the martial art of karate, and more particularly pertains to devices which can be used in the practice of one of the exercises of that art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the prior art, one of the exercises used in karate is board breaking. In this particular form of practicing the martial arts, a person engaged in the exercise strikes the board with his hand or foot and breaks it. Under normal circumstances, the board to be broken is held by two individuals who are also engaged in practicing the art.
Typically, the board or boards to be broken are of the standard size of approximately 10.times.12 inches, while being one-half to three-fourths of inches thick. As a person progresses in his practice of board breaking, two or more boards may be broken while being held together in a stack.
Because the boards are held by others, these accomplices are in position of danger--either from having the board break from the point where it is being held or by a misdirected blow by the individual attempting to break the boards. As such, there has developed an interest in devising devices which permit such karate exercises to be performed which permit such karate exercises to be performed without the danger of having an accomplice becoming injured. For example, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,646, which issued to D. Squire on Oct. 20, 1981. This patent discloses a karate board holding and storage device which utilizes four upright posts assembled together into a rectangular frame work. A pair of L-shaped brackets are secured to the frontmost opposed posts when the rearmost opposed posts are supported on a vertical supporting surface. A cross bar, connected to the frontmost posts and disposed beneath the frontmost pairs of angular L-shaped members is utilized to retain a vertically exposed board in a supported relationship. The board is disposed parallel to the supporting surfaces as required to be held during the gymnastic board breaking exercise.
While the Squire device most likely performs its desired function, it can be appreciated that the entire assembly is of a complex and difficult to manufacture design which most likely accounts for the fact that it does not appear to be presently commercially available. Further, limited adjustment is provided by the Squire apparatus, i.e., all of the boards to be broken are held in the precise same parallel plane which, of course, limits the extent of practice afforded to a user thereof.
Accordingly, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved karate board holding devices which are of a more simplistic and economical design and which provide for angular adjustment to increase the attendant exercise possibilities. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.